The health price of the energy drink buzz
energy drinks
The buzz of energy drinks can come with a health price.
Drinking two cans a day, six days a week for three weeks resulted in an abnormal heart rhythm and a slight blood pressure increase for participants in a recent study.
The changes occurred while drinking the energy beverage and lasted for about two hours afterwards.
“While we wait for more data, some consumers should exercise caution and not blindly follow the buzz” says Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Sachin Shah, at the University of the Pacific and David Grant Medical centre.
The team say the findings are of special concern among young adults as energy drinks are widely consumer within the college population.
The findings were presented to a meeting of the American Heart Association in Phoenix Arizona.
Energy drinks have been associated with sudden deaths. As of June 2014, the Center for Science in Public Interest, a consumer health advocacy group, had collected reports of 34 deaths that may have been associated with energy drinks.
According to Shah, more research needs to be performed assessing the heart rhythm and blood pressure effects of energy drinks, especially in those with underlying cardiac conditions such as congenital long QT syndrome and hypertension.
